Nicki Sanders, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of The Teen Toolbox will join us tonight. We will be discussing among other things, the 95% unemployment rate for Black teen high school dropouts.
Unemployment is high for all Americans according to a recent AP report that found 4 out of 5 Adults are living in or just above the poverty line with many unemployed but the youth are especially hit hard. Considering these facts, our youth would be better served by staying in school.
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A piece titled Basic Survival Rules for Black Teenagers in America- 2013 Edition was published earlier this month on the website All Alabama. It was written by a wealthy Black investment banker Donald Watkins and includes 17 rules he believes would save the lives of Black teenagers in America.
While the rules seem practical and offering good advice to Black teens living a country that the media demonizes, some of the rules seem like they are going out the way to make our youth bow down to white supremacy just to stay alive. Read the rules and share your thought with us.
The youth murder rate according to the CDC has hit a thirty-year low across all racial groups but a little slower for Black teens. While this is positive news, it is not being widely trumpeted. One dead teen is one too many so while the rate is trending downward, can we identify what may have been working and how can we improve upon the latest downward trend.
While the CDC analysis did not identify reasons behind these trends, Other research has pointed toward things like the crack cocaine epidemic, drug-related crime, an increase in weapon carrying, and a weak economy as some of the factors in the sharp rise in homicides in the late ’80s and early ’90s. As those factors abated, the homicide rate dropped sharply.
Since most of the murders are happening in high poverty areas of the country, do we need to put more pressure on local, state and federal governments to create jobs programs, should we be looking at putting pressure on private employers, creating opportunities ourselves or a mixture of all the above. What about calling for an end to the Drug War which also impacts the mass incarceration of our youth with few economic opportunities.
Give us a call and tell us what you think about the thirty-year low in the murder rates of young brothers and sisters.
